A considered study of the 2006 Oscar-winner.

James Mottram, Total Film

What makes a classic film? Annie Ring offers intriguing answers to this question in an accessible and engaging volume with breath-taking range and intriguing depth. From surveillance to melodrama and from Brecht to Hitchcock, she covers the myriad facets of a modern-day classic, The Lives of Others.

Barbara Mennel, University of Florida, USA

This original and fascinating analysis makes a compelling case for including The Lives of Others in the canon of contemporary classic cinema. Anyone who has watched von Donnersmarck's Stasi melodrama will profit from reading Annie Ring's well-researched and accessible book.

Daniela Berghahn, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Ring's writing style is consistently clear, elegant and concise, making her arguments easy to follow and understand. Her passion for the topic is evident throughout the book, and she succeeds in arousing the reader's interest in the film, its themes and its historical context … The Lives of Others is a well-researched and engaging analysis of a complex and thought-provoking film. Ring's insights and analysis will be of interest not only to film scholars and students but also to anyone curious about the political and social dynamics of East Germany during the Cold War.

Tina Stockman, Media Education Journal

Well-written and deeply thought-provoking. Alongside analysis of the film's aesthetic and philosophical themes, Ring brings historical fact to the fore in a way which makes a reductive black-and-white reading of the film and its political message entirely impossible ... [Ring's] ability to simplify complex ideas without smoothing over the nuance is at its most visible in moments of intertextual analysis.

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